To the naked eye, the cluster consists of several blue-hued spectral type B stars.

The most luminous member is the ~2nd magnitude yellow supergiant Mirfak, also known as Alpha Persei.

The Hipparcos satellite and infrared color-magnitude diagram fitting have been used to establish a distance to the cluster of ~560 light-years (172 pc).

[2][3] Cluster member stars show a near-solar metallicity, meaning the abundance of elements with atomic numbers higher than 2 are similar to those in the Sun.

[10] The cluster field displays evidence of a much larger, background star stream.